When Edward pulled up to their large secluded home, Grace had to catch her breath. The staggering estate was predominantly made up of windows and the curve of the architecture mirrored the bow and sway of the blossoming trees. When they climbed the wide, wood steps to the massive front door, Bella, hand in hand with Edward, turned to give Grace a worrying look.
"Just….try to keep an open mind," Bella said mysteriously. Grace stopped mid step and raised her eyebrows.
"Okaaaay," she said slowly. Edward gave a short laugh and pulled Bella further into him as they walked through the slowly opening door. Grace looked behind her into the woods for a brief moment before crossing the threshold of the Cullen house, trying her best to suppress a cold shiver winding through her and circling in her belly.
Grace followed Edward and Bella up a flight of stairs to a landing leading to a wide open living room space. The darkened windows faced out toward the forest and Grace could just barely make out the shifting shadows of the branches in the trees. The entire Cullen family was there, standing statuesque around different areas of the living room. When they entered, their eyes all shifted over to them.
After a brief, settling silence, she heard Carlisle gently ask: "And who's this?" Before Grace had a chance to speak up, Edward said just as calmly back:
"This is Grace Alo, Bella's cousin." No other explanation necessary apparently. "Grace, this is my father, Carlisle."
"Yes, Bella's mentioned him. Nice to meet you, Dr. Cullen." Grace responded more relaxedly than she thought she was capable of at this moment surrounded by 7 "friendly" vampires.
"Carlisle is fine." He nodded and gave her a warm smile. How could vampires smile warmly, she wondered.
"Right. Carlisle then."
"This is my wife Esme" he circled an arm around her shoulder and the small but welcoming woman gave her a smile as well, mirroring Carlisle's warmth. "And I think you know my other children, Alice and Jasper, and that's Rosalie and Emmett."
"Hi." Grace gave a small wave and looked to each other, silently measuring them up. She was toast if they wanted a snack.
"Edward has informed us that Victoria has been in the area, causing some trouble for you and your friends. We're very sorry for that. We hope no one has been hurt." Carlisle said sincerely.
Friends. Grace looked to Bella and wondered how much the Cullens knew and how much they thought she knew about them.
"We've kept her at bay." Grace said simply. Bound with the knowledge that she was not supposed to say anything about the pack, she wasn't sure how much was too much.
"Well, we're happy to take it from here and not put any of you in further danger." Carlisle nodded. Grace watched him carefully and was somewhat shocked by his overwhelming kindness and decency for those he had never met. She automatically took a step forward in her sudden comfort and then stopped, taking care to step back and relaying a quiet "thank you."
"How many of your kind are there?" Rosalie suddenly asked, sharp and strong.
"Excuse me?" Grace said back, feeling a protective surge move through her.
"Rosalie, that's not important." Carlisle placated. "And what's more, we should respect Grace's privacy and the treaty." Carlisle nodded toward her. Rosalie's unwavering gaze stayed on Grace. She gave it back, stone faced and sure. She was immovable.
"We don't exactly get along with their kind. It's a matter of safety...for my family," Rosalie said. Before Carlisle could step in again, Grace shot back.
"There's enough of us," Grace said solidly, crossing her arms, "To take down a threat." Rosalie let a small, intimidating smile creep over her lips.
"Fair." She said.
"Grace isn't a werewolf." Bella said. "She's the Spirit Bird."
BELLA! Grace internally screamed. Outwardly she gave a little squeak and clapped her mouth shut with an audible clack.
"What?" Bella said, looking at Grace surprised. "Oh. Sorry." she said, suddenly realizing her mistake and wincing. Grace let out a wide exhale and placed her hands on her hips.
"Well, at least Sam won't kill me." Grace muttered. "He'll kill you instead." Grace laughed pointing toward Bella. Edward unconsciously flinched and tightened his hold on Bella. "Just kidding." Grace said when she noticed his rigid stance.
"Anyway, that's not why I'm here." Bella turned back to the family and looked at each of their faces. "You all know what I want." She turned to look at Grace knowingly. "But I think it's only fair that since I want to be one of you, and that I'm asking to join your family, that we vote."
Grace felt white hot piercing through her. She was frozen in place, but inside her head she was screaming. If Edward could glean a feeling from this, she was sure he'd understand her tight body language. She wanted to be one of them?! Her stomach turned at the thought of Bella becoming a vampire, but when she looked at the eyes around the room, their golden hued colored with worry, chagrin, and some with complete disdain, she knew it wasn't as easy as a simple 'yes.'
"So?" Bella looked to Alice first.
"Of course, I already consider you my sister." Alice hugged her and Bella stumbled a little bit when she was pulled into the tight hug. Grace, still frozen to the spot tried to unflex her fingers.
Jasper nodded and then gave a short, pained, "Yes."
Emmett was next a broad smile pulled across his face in unrelenting joy: "Hell yes!" he picked Bella up and spun her around. "It would be nice not hearing Edward's whining all the time." Bella laughed and Edward groaned.
"Rosalie?" Bella offered. Grace carefully watched the beautiful blonde vampire shift from one foot to the other smoothly.
"I want to apologize to both of you. For my actions. I was hasty and it almost cost my brother his life. Thank you for saving him," she said with a look on her face that showed she was almost surprised herself. "But I vote no. This isn't a life I would have chosen for myself. And in good conscious, I can't wish it upon you." Rosalie folded her hands in front of her and looked down.
Bella gave a short nod, quickly moving to Esme. "Yes, of course. You're already our family."
When her gaze rested on Carlisle, he stared at Edward intently, trying to communicate with him.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Edward lamented.
"You've chosen not to live without her. And will not lose my son." Carlisle looked back to Bella and said "Yes." softly.
"Edward?" Bella looked up at him.
"You know my answer," Edward said, somewhat annoyed but his arm still wrapped around Bella's waist protectively.
"We need it on record," Bella jabbed.
"No." Edward said softly gazing down at her and bringing a hand to caress her face. She stared up at him for a moment longer and then pulled away slightly to turn and face Grace. Grace was still glued to the same spot stretching her fingers out, her face set in a hard line.
"Grace?" Bella prompted.
"Who me?" Grace choked out.
"Yes."
"Why do you want my vote?" Grace was genuinely surprised, aghast even that Bella even considered her opinion on this obviously outlandish vote. Bella waited patiently. Grace let out an exasperated huff of air and shook her head, "Bella, I love you, so so much. But this….I know you think this will make you happy. But Bella...this will start a war. One I will have to fight and I don't want to lose you. I don't want to lose anyone," she looked around the room. She didn't know then, but when she said 'anyone' she meant everyone standing in that room as well.
Bella sucked in a worried breath and fiddled with her fingertips. "I understand-"
"Do you?" Grace interjected, finally taking the steps forward to stand in front of Bella and clasp her hands over hers. "The treaty...the treaty states that if a Cullen bites a human, then the deal is off."
"We'll leave." Bella whispered. "I know we'll have to leave."
"Bella. They'll follow you. And I don't know if I'll be able to stop them." Grace watched her face closely. "Just think about it. Think about….Jake." she choked out. "This will kill him." Tears sprang to her eyes now.
"Grace," Bella pulled Grace into a hug and kept her there, whispering in her ear, "I promise I won't do anything to put you or Jake or the pack in danger. I promise." She pulled back and looked at her face. "We'll figure it out. Together." Grace knew that there was no way to win tonight. So instead, she nodded, let the tears drop from her face onto the cleanly polished mahogany floors and sucked in a deep breath.
Carlisle was next to her in an instant with a handkerchief, that Grace gladly accepted and wiped her eyes with. She chuckled out a loose thank you and Carlisle kindly nodded.
"I should get you two back home. It's late." Edward said. He looked at Grace appreciatively glad to have someone on his side in this fight for Bella's life.
But Grace wasn't so sure he had the same goal. If this affected no one else, Grace would have supported it because she recognized that Bella was happiest with Edward. And to stay with him this way, she had to change. It made sense, even if Grace thought it should be a last resort. But in the back of her mind, she knew what it was like to want to be with someone that you couldn't in the way you were now.
Tucked in the safety of Edward's backseat, Grace let her head lean against the cool window. Just as she was drifting off, she heard Edward gently say, "Grace."
She sat up and looked around her quickly. Edward was staring straight ahead out the windshield. Bella had fallen asleep. Grace squinted out the windshield and saw just inside the tree line six pairs of glowing eyes. She sucked in a sharp breath and looked to Edward.
"They don't look happy." Grace said sarcastically.
"Hate to be a Spirit Bird right about now," Edward said quietly.
"Or a vampire," Grace retorted. Edward chuckled. "Okay, I'll get out first and you get Bella upstairs."
"Sounds like a plan," Edward said, his eyes still glued to the forest.
Grace got out of the backseat easily, her nervous energy shaking any tiredness from her body. She strode across her lawn toward the forest and then stopped just past the walkway. She kept her hands at her side in case she felt like she needed to block them. Edward was quick and quiet and in the house by the time Grace came to a stop.
The crescendo of angry voices laced with hurt, betrayal, curiosity, and more prominently, anger, were loud and clear. But something in her held her in place and she conveyed as best she could without speaking that everything was going to be alright. To which a low howl accompanied by a bevvy of growls rang out. The flood of emotion coming from the pack was so strong that she had a hard time hearing any full sentences. They all overlapped each other in outrage. And then, she heard one clear voice ring out like a shot.
Is she alright? It was Jake's voice. It was firm but void of any desperate anger like the others. He was upset but remained more level headed in his tone to make sure his message got across.
"Yes." Grace said quietly out into the trees to him. Then suddenly, the voices stopped like someone at given a silent command. Grace could hear the relief of silence and crickets, and animals creaking around in the forest. She was grateful for it and nodded once toward the trees, conveying an unspoken decision to the pack and moved swiftly into the house.
"Well, you're both grounded," Charlie had his hands on hips, donned in his chief getup, and was standing in front of Grace and Bella as they sat on the couch.
"Wait! Why am I grounded?" Grace said.
"Yeah, that doesn't seem fair dad, she tried to stop me," Bella defended her and Grace nodded enthusiastically.
"Because not 12 hours after Bella got home, you snuck her out to see Edward in the middle of the night." Charlie stated matter of factly, pleased as punch with his findings.
"Wha-" Grace said.
"Sam called."
"Aaaah, what a little-" Grace started.
"I'd save it. He was only looking out. Soooo," Charlie pointed to Grace first, "Two weeks, school only, trips to the rez accompanied only by Jacob or….what's his name?"
"Paul." Grace said dejectedly crossing her arms.
"Yes and 7 p.m. curfew. And you," he pointed to Bella who looked at him expectantly, unafraid. "Grounded for the rest of your life. That means no seeing Edward, no phone, nothing." Bella nodded biting her lip.
"Saw that coming," she replied. "But dad I'm 18 so-"
"Well as long as you live in my house, you're grounded." Charlie said.
"Then I'm moving out." Bella said back.
"Okay woah," Grace halted the conversation. "Bells, you're not moving out. We've got 2 more months of school and you know that's not the way you want to leave," Grace gave her a knowing stare.
"Fine, but I still get to see Edward." Bella crossed her arms looking up at Charlie. He considered this for a moment.
"5 p.m. curfew, no school nights. You can go to the reservation whenever you'd like to hang out with Jacob. If you head anywhere else, I'll know." Charlie conceded. Bella looked at Grace who rolled her eyes and mouthed 'Sam.'
"Grace gets a 7.p.m curfew, why can't I have that?" Bella challenged. Charlie started to get red in the face.
"5.p.m when your with him. 7p .m. when you're with Grace or Jake. That's it, Bella." to this Charlie turned and started walking toward the door. "Now get to school. You're going to be late." When he swung open the front door, Edward was climbing the steps. "Oh jeez!" he let out, annoyed.
"Chief Swan," Edward said, giving him a gentle smile.
"Get out of here, they're both grounded."
"Dad, the truck is at school, we don't have a ride." Bella said as she passed him and beelined it for his car. Grace hiked her backpack on her shoulder and moved past him too. Charlie dragged a hand over his face and threw his hands up.
"Fine," and walked off toward his police cruiser.
In the car, Grace opened her phone and scrolled aimlessly through the onslaught of text messages in her phone that had been building up since late last night. She only looked for one name though. He hadn't been one of the many frantic text messages last night though. Still, for comfort, she looked at the last message he had sent her, trying to channel his warm, soothing voice in her head.
I'm so sorry, Grace.
Let me know when you want to talk.
